Local law enforcement agencies collected several truckloads of toys for the Salvation Army during the annual event.
Chad Erickson (left) takes shopping bags from Jen Mangan's and her son Mason Haley's cart during the Cloquet and Fond du Lac Tribal police departments' "Stuff the Squad" event Wednesday, Dec. 16. Mangan and Mason donated their entire cart of purchases at Walmart to the Salvation Army toy drive. Jamey Malcomb / Pine Journal
“Here, this is all for you,” she said to CPD Officer Kyle Voltzke and Fond du Lac Tribal Police Department Sgt. Chad Pattison.
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That wasn’t the only instance of someone donating an entire cartload of toys to the departments’ annual “Stuff the Squad” toy drive at Walmart and L&M Fleet Supply stores in Cloquet.
Cloquet Police Officer Laci Silgjord (center), K-9 Vader and Chief Derek Randall spent the evening Wednesday, Dec. 18, collecting toys for the annual "Stuff the Squad" event at L&M Fleet Supply in Cloquet. (Jamey Malcomb / Pine Journal)
The effort was a little different this year because the COVID-19 pandemic kept officers from taking pictures with children or letting children check out the inside of the squad cars, but it didn’t dampen the generous spirits of Cloquet shoppers.
Voltzke said he believed it was the event’s most successful year ever — donors filled two department pickup trucks and three squad SUVs during the four-hour collection drive.
Cloquet Police Officer Kyle Voltzke takes a donation for the annual "Stuff the Squad" event to collect toys for the Salvation Army Toy Drive. Voltzke said CPD and Fond du Lac Tribal Police Department collected two pickup truck loads and three squad SUVs full of toys for children in need this holiday season. (Jamey Malcomb / Pine Journal)
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1/2: Little Baby Yoda and Neon Q.T. dolls were among the hundreds of donated toys during the Cloquet and Fond du Lac Tribal police departments' annual Stuff the Squad toy drive for the Salvation Army Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the Cloquet Walmart. Jamey Malcomb / Pine Journal
2/2: (From left) Cloquet Police Officer Kyle Voltzke, Fond du Lac Tribal Police Sgt. Chad Pattison and Salvation Army volunteer Chad Erickson show off one of the squad SUV's filled with toys during the departments' annual "Stuff the Squad" event Wednesday, Dec. 16. Jamey Malcomb / Pine Journal
1/2: Little Baby Yoda and Neon Q.T. dolls were among the hundreds of donated toys during the Cloquet and Fond du Lac Tribal police departments' annual Stuff the Squad toy drive for the Salvation Army Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the Cloquet Walmart. Jamey Malcomb / Pine Journal
2/2: (From left) Cloquet Police Officer Kyle Voltzke, Fond du Lac Tribal Police Sgt. Chad Pattison and Salvation Army volunteer Chad Erickson show off one of the squad SUV's filled with toys during the departments' annual "Stuff the Squad" event Wednesday, Dec. 16. Jamey Malcomb / Pine Journal
Jamey Malcomb has a been high school sports reporter for the Duluth News Tribune since October 2021. He spent the previous six years covering news and sports for the Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors and the Cloquet Pine Journal. He graduated from the George Washington University in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in history and literature and also holds a master's degree in secondary English education from George Mason University.
